Faster than the Wind
by xXpaper-heartsXx
Summary: Ino and I were inseparable; the best of friends. But all friends have problems, and one day, those problems will slap you in the face! And it all started with a text.. SasuSaku
1. Prologue

Faster than the Wind

Summary: Ino and I were inseparable; the best of friends. But all friends have problems, and one day, those problems will slap you in the face! And it all started with a text..

A/N: Hi everyone, Thank you for taking the time to read the first chapter of my new story! I can not tell you how much I appreciate it. I hope the prologue intrigues you to come back and read chapter 2!

As always here is the **disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. That honour belongs to the outstandingly creative and illustrious Kishimoto.

* * *

Prologue:

* * *

My ears rung and my breath was caught in my throat. The slap across the face had locked my body into shock.

I must have looked like a complete idiot as I stood there like a mannequin, completely frozen in place. Time seemed to slow and I was engulfed by the sound of whispers all around me. It was though the sound had permeated through my skull and was constricting my brain.

I couldn't think.

I couldn't move.

I couldn't breathe!

I shut my eyes trying to concentrate on my breathing and to draw out the whispers.

Suddenly a voice, clear as day, spoke which pulled me from my current state. At first, I felt relief. But, as I looked up to the direction of the voice, I felt a pang in my chest. I clutched my now throbbing cheek. Tears sprung to my eyes and threatened to fall, but I did not let them.

Now stood before me, was the one that I was closest to, the one that I had looked up to, the one that I had trusted, and the one that had now left a very prominent mark upon my cheek.

Ino. My best friend.

She looked at me with anger in her eyes and everything finally went silent. I breathed a sigh of relief as the ringing in my ears had finally stopped. My head still spinning from what had happened, I caught her mouth moving as though she was speaking to me, but I heard no words.

I looked at her blankly, and when I made no reply, she spun on her heal and walked away.

I continued to stare at her retreating figure until she was lost in the crowd.

We use to be inseparable; the best of friends.

How did things end up like this?

The text that made my New Year's Eve.

* * *

A/N: Hi everyone, thanks for taking the time to read the prologue.

I will be uploading Chapter 1 in the next few days, so look out for that!

Please feel free to leave a review with any comments or advice you may have for me. It would be greatly appreciated :)

See you all for Chapter 1!

xXpaper-heartsXx


	2. Chapter One: Closer than Most

**A/N:** Welcome back! I just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU! to all of you wonderful people who took the time to read the Prologue and who are back again for more!

Shout out the two Guest reviews left on the Prologue. Thank you for sharing your positive thoughts about the story so far. It really does mean a lot :)

Here is the first chapter of this story! I am so excited to bring it to you, so I thought I'd put it out a bit early. Enjoy!

As always here is the **disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. That honour belongs to the outstandingly creative and illustrious Kishimoto.

* * *

 **Chapter One: Closer than Most**

* * *

I awoke to the sound of my bedroom door being flung open and the next thing I knew a bodily mass landed right on me. I pretended to not have noticed as I knew perfectly well who it was. The most annoying person in the whole world, but who I loved like a sister; my best friend Ino.

"Sakura, I know that you're awake. There is no point in pretending!" She said in an 'as a matter of fact' tone.

I stirred. I guess there really was no hiding from her, so I gave in and sat up.

"I really need to tell Mum to stop letting you into the house at odd times." I said whilst rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. "What time is it anyway?"

"Well actually it was your Dad that let me in, and it is..." she paused to retrieve her phone from her bag "7.30am. Today is the first day of summer holidays Sakura! How can you be so lazy in bed!?".

"Very easily! I had decided to dedicate this day to sleep after that last crazy week. Why are you up so early?" I asked.

She sighed. "Well you know what my household has been like since the birth of my baby brother Akira. He cries all the time! I have been up since 4am! So I decided to come over and-"

"So you decided to come over and cut my sleep short because yours was?" I said accusingly.

"Exactly! See this is why we are friends" she said with a huge smile on her face. I couldn't really be angry with her. Her smile and laugh were of the contagious kind. "So what did you have planned for today Ino?"

"Isn't it obvious? We're going shopping!" She said as she jumped off my bed and headed for the door. "Come on, your Mum has made us pancakes for breakfast!" And with that, she left to go down stairs.

You would think that I would be use to this by now. It has only happened nearly every day for the past 10 years. Ino and I became friends from a young age. I have always been the quiet and shy type of person, and Ino was the complete opposite. She was loud, bubbly and confident. She had made it her life's goal to make sure I don't get left behind. She really does mean well, but sometimes I think she sees me as her living doll, especially when shopping is involved!

Ino and I are now eighteen years old and in the final year of High School. I hope she starts to take her studies seriously this year. She has a bad habit of going a bit boy crazy. At least I know she doesn't leave me out of her 'boyfriend focused' day plan. I myself have gone on some double dates with Ino, set up dates that is, but we have very different tastes in guys. So they have never worked out.

I got up out of bed and started to throw on some clothes. As I stared into my wardrobe, a thousand memories came to me and I smiled. She certainly has kept my life busy and interesting.

My thoughts stopped when I heard a shout from down-stairs. "SAKURA! Are you coming or what?!"

I laughed a little as a pulled my top down over my head. "Never a dull day!" I said to myself, as I left my room to head down.

* * *

The start of the Summer Holidays also meant the start of my summer job down at Baxter's cafe. Baxter's is a popular medium sized cafe with a hipster feel to it. All of the furniture are mismatched pieces and no two mugs or plates are the same. But that is what I loved about the place. It wasn't like a typical cafe; it was unique.

The managers, Tsunade and her husband Jiraya, had left their jobs to start their dream of owning their own cafe. I remember when Baxter's first opened. Right from day one, they were a huge success.

Their business was doing so well, that they needed to expand the cafe to allow for a larger kitchen and more table seating. They had finished about a week before the start of the holidays. With their expansion, it meant that they needed to hire some more people to help run the café, and I was lucky enough to get one of the positions.

Today I was working a longer shift than usual, as I was going to be trained to be a waitress, instead of just cleaning tables. Not that I minded cleaning tables, but I think I just always had my heart set on being a waitress; being able to talk with a variety of people, getting tips, and maybe serving my future boyfriend. A girl can dream, right?

I had finally finished cleaning up the tables. I threw my rag into the tub with the dirty plates and cutlery, picked it up, and turned to head to the kitchen. Then there was a loud crash! The tub had slipped from my hands and had now crashed to the floor. Yes, it was my fault, but not entirely. My eyes went from the mess on the once clean floor, up to the face of the guy that had collided with me. He too worked at the cafe, though I had never seen him before.

"I'll give you some advice, try and use your eyes when your walking. It should help to prevent you from knocking into people" he said.

I know I should have just ignored him, but his face had a smug look about it that just made me mad. I am not normally one to get into arguments; in fact I dread them! But this guy just made all these unfamiliar emotions come bubbling to the surface.

"Well here's some advice for you. Don't walk so close behind people, especially if they are carrying a heavy tub of dishes, then things like this won't happen". I looked at him square in the face. Then his smugness changed, and I'm not sure I liked it.

"Well how else am I meant to check out your ass? I couldn't really see it till I got up close". I hated that I felt a blush rise to the tops of my cheeks. Please don't see. Please don't see!

Then I saw him smirk. Yep. He definitely saw. He put a hand on the table and lent in closer. "So what is your name newbie?"

I took a deep breath and ducked under his arm that had me cornered. "I, unlike you, have work to do". I bent down to pick up my tub, but he somehow beat me to it in one swift movement. "You really know how to test my patience" I said, clearly annoyed.

"Tell me your name, and I'll leave you alone".

"I don't give my name out to creeps" I said as a snatched the tub out of his grip and started to walk away.

"Sakura!" It was Tsunade. "Are you ready to start your training?"

I cringed. I could feel the smirk growing on his face. "Sakura, is it?"

I just kept walking. "Don't you want to know mine?" He said with a touch of amusement in his voice. So I turned towards him and in all seriousness said, "I really couldn't care less". With that, I spun on my heal and headed towards the kitchen. All the while feeling his smirk and eyes never leaving me till I was out of view.

I dumped my tray in the kitchen.

I was fuming!

I don't think I have really ever been this mad at someone I had just met before. I was so excited for this shift, but now all I wanted was to go home.

* * *

When I finally got home, I went straight up to my room. There was Ino flipping through a magazine on my bed. "It's about time that you got home" she said looking up from the beauty magazine.

I dropped my bag on the floor and collapse on the bed next to her.

"Sakura..." I felt her shaking my shoulder. "Sakura, what's wrong? I thought you loved that job?"

I sat up and brushed the hair from my face. "I did love it. Untill today. Some jerk at work bumped into me and made me drop me tray. He then acted so smug giving me advice and he said he was trying to check out my butt. Then he just wouldnt leave me alone till he found out my name". I had just blurted that out so fast, that I now needed to catch my breath. I looked at Ino and her face was in shock.

"Woah, Sakura! Breathe! I know every guy that works there. Tell me his name."

"I didn't hang around to find out. But he was..." I paused. I hadn't really taken much notice of what he had looked like. "He was taller than me, dark hair, dark eyes and you can't miss the smug look on his face"

"O.M.G!" Exclaimed Ino. "Are you serious!?" I sat there a bit confused.

"Um... yes..." I said with a blank look on my face.

"That guy is hot! But word is that he doesn't really speak to girls in the cafe. Are you sure that's what he looked like?"

"Um, yeah, well that's all I can remember anyway"

"Ok, well all the girls think he is amazingly good looking. No one really knows much about him, other than his name is Sasuke. Doesn't that just make him even more dreamy?" Ino leant her head on her hand and stared off day dreaming.

"Sasuke, huh? Perhaps it should have been Lucifer. I hope I never have to encounter him again! I just want to go back to loving my job..." I glanced out the window for a moment.

... Sasuke... just who is he?

* * *

 ** _Flash Forward:_**

 _I spun around and saw the glistening of snow flakes all around me; mixed with the coloured lights of the party down below. It was beautiful._

 _Even though this was New Years Eve, something was missing. Someone was missing._

 _I was about to head down to meet the others, when my phone buzzed. A true smile spread across my face before returning to the loud, and colourful mass of people below._

* * *

 **A/N:** Well there it is! First Chapter done! Please let me know your thoughts so far!

See you all for Chapter 2! The release date will be posted on my profile.

xXpaper-heartsXx


	3. Chapter Two: The New and the Old

**A/N:** Firstly I would like to apologise for the delay with this chapter.

And a massive THANK YOU! to those who left reviews. I really appreciate the feedback!

As always here is the **disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. That honour belongs to the outstandingly creative and illustrious Kishimoto.

Without any further adieu, here is Chapter 2!

* * *

 **Chapter 2: The New and the Old**

* * *

Someone had blessed me. Either that or my Fairy Godmother had granted my wish of never seeing Sasuke again. It had been months since our first encounter, the summer holidays had come and gone, and I had nearly forgotten all about him. The rumours were that he had left town. Not that I paid any attention to rumours, that's just what Ino said she heard from the other girls.

Back at school, things were going slowly. I mean, I know it was just the start of the new semester, but I assumed that senior year would go by rather quickly. Everyone seemed to say so anyway.

I grabbed my things from my locker for the next period; English Literature. I looked forward to this class. We were studying Shakespeare's Hamlet. I found the characters so intriguing. Things in this play were not always what it seemed. It was like a riddle for me to solve.

I walked into class and took my usual seat in the 3rd row from the front. As I slid into my chair, I noticed Shikamaru and Hinata enter the room. I beamed when I saw Hinata. She often gets quite unwell and been off school for about a week or so.

"Hinata!" I shouted as I jumped up to give her a hug. "I have missed you! How are you feeling?"

"A-a lot better now Sakura. Thank you for thinking of me." She said shyly.

"Of course!" I said with a smile. They both sat down on either side of me. "I am so glad you are back. I was stuck with just the boys while you were away." I said with a laugh.

Hinata blushed. "W-where is Naruto anyway?" she said as out teacher walked in.

Sakura and Shikamaru sighed. "Late as usual" he said. "Why I keep being partners with him, I'll never know".

 **FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER...**

The door burst open and a panting Naruto stormed into the classroom. "I'M HERE!" he exclaimed.

Everyone burst out with laughter. Everyone except for the three of us. Hinata was obviously glad to see Naruto, but Shikamaru and I wore a different expression on our faces, and I dare say that was mirrored by our teacher.

"Naruto... the semester has just started and you have been late to every class! Hurry up and take your seat. You will need to catch up in your own time."

"B-but-" said Naruto looking rather shocked that he would now have to do work after school. Maybe it might do him some good, I thought with a laugh.

"Sakura! What are you laughing at!?" He exclaimed as he took his seat next to Shikamaru.

"Nothing" I said with a smile. I then returned back to my work and continued to doodle in the margin of my book, which I often did without really thinking about it. I continued to glide my pen as I continued to read the play.

"Sakura..." I jumped in surprise as Hinata spoke to me. "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" I said in confusion.

Hinata motioned for me to look down at my page. There on my page was a pair of obsidian eyes looking back at me. I paused. They were just eyes, and yet they seemed familiar.

The more I thought about it, a picture of he person started to develop in my mind.

I cursed when the image became clear. I knew who's eyes I had been drawing.

Sasuke's...

I put on a fake smile for Hinata. "Sorry Hinata, I guess I was sort of lost in doodling today" I said with a laugh.

"Oh, well that's ok. I also wanted to let you know that Ino is waiting in the hall for you".

"She is? Oh, well thanks Hinata! I'll see you all tomorrow!" I gave her and the boys a wave before I started to follow the majority of the class out into the corridor.

"Hey Sakura!" I turned around to see Shikamaru catching up with me. "I almost forgot to ask you."

I stood with a confused look on my face. "Ask me what?"

"Ino and I are partners in History and she gave me her number so we can plan out our assignment, but I must have lost it" He said.

"Oh, well I'm meeting her now. She's just out in the hall. You can come with me and ask her, if you like?"

"Well, you see, I don't particularly want to be on the receiving end when I tell her that I lost her number. You know what she can be like?" He said as we both laughed.

"You're right. Here." I said as I scribbled her number down on a piece of paper from my book and tore it out for him.

"Thanks Sakura! See you tomorrow" He said as we parted ways. It was then that the events of class came back to the surface of my thoughts.

I could not believe that I had been drawing Sasuke's eyes. I had been glad that I did not have to see that jerk. So why had I drawn his eyes on my page? Maybe I hadn't forgotten about him as much as I had thought.

I shook the thought of Sasuke away as I saw Ino waiting for me. I was going to have fun with my best friend and wasn't going to let the thought of him ruin my day.

* * *

Ino and I were out shopping, as per usual, because Jessica had insisted that we got new outfits for the New Years Eve party. We were in one of the shopping centre's department stores. Ino had found a black bandage dress with a V neckline. She looked amazing!

"Well, what do you think?" She said as she struck a pose in the change room.

I laughed. "It looks great on you!"

"You really think so?" I nodded. "Alright, done! Now what about you?"

"Oh, I didn't see anything. I really am fine with just wearing something I already have." I said.

"Sakura! We are going to find you the perfect dress, even if it kills me! You never know who you might catch the eye of." She said as she gave me a wink. I couldn't help but laugh. She was right. I hated it, but she was.

Ino went to the rack to put back the other two dresses she had tried on. I was walking to check out some shoes that had caught my eye. I was just about the pick them up when I felt my arm being pulled in the opposite direction.

"Hey! Ino! What are you doing?" I exclaimed.

"I was putting my dress back and I saw the most amazing thing! It is perfect!" She shrieked with excitement, as she continued to pull me after her.

"Perfect for what?" I said clearly missing something.

"Perfect for you! Look at this." She said as she reached into the rack she had dragged me to and pulled out a burgundy lace dress.

"Ino, this is one of the reasons why you are my best friend!" I said as a huge smile spread across my face.

"Well you go and pay for that, and I'll meet you back over there to look for some shoes." She said as she turned and wondered over to a sparkly pair of heels.

I was waiting in line at the register when I overheard the two girls in front of me checking out a guy who had his back to us. You could say that he fit the 'tall, dark, and handsome' criteria. Well, from what I could see. Without realising I found myself somewhat attracted to this guy. I felt my eyes glazing over his physique.

Then suddenly he turned around. There was something familiar about him. Then I saw that all too familiar smug smirk. I tore my gaze away as fast as I could, but it was unfortunately not fast enough.

Sasuke had caught me checking him out.

I was furious at myself. First drawing his eyes in class and now this!?

But that feeling of anger was about to turn to pure annoyance as, with great dread, I saw Sasuke heading in my direction.

"I thought I'd come and give you a closer look. Clearly you've been missing me at work." He said with that smug look still evident on his face.

"Clearly you are delusional." I retorted back.

"Hm, we shall see. What's the dress for? Hot date? To be honest, I'm hurt." He said trying to tease me.

"Not that it's any of your business, but it's for New Year's." I said not looking at him, and focusing on the register in front of me.

"New Year's, huh? So is it for a date?" He pressed.

This time, I ignored him.

"Alright then. There is more than one way of finding out." He said as he turned and left.

I sighed in relief. Thank goodness that was over! I was now second in the cue, so I turned to check Ino was still checking out shoes. But that's when I saw Ino clearly besotted as Sasuke was talking to her.

You have got to be kidding me... Is there no end to him?

By the time I payed for the dress and made my way over to Ino, Sasuke had left.

"What did he want?" I asked Ino in an annoyed tone.

"Oh, you know to chat to me. He was asking me about New Year's Eve! Do you think he wants to ask me out? He was also asking a lot of questions about you. But, he complimented my dress!" Ino was speaking a million miles an hour. Sasuke had been asking questions about me. Just what was up with him? Why couldn't he just leave me alone?

* * *

Work was busy at the cafe tonight. There were a lot of large groups with functions on that we needed to cater for. So it was all hands on deck! I felt like I was rushing back and forth between the kitchen and the tables so much that it looked like I was doing laps.

I had just finished serving a new table of 4, when Jiraya my manager came up to me.

"Hey Sakura. How's everything going tonight? Are you managing ok?" He said, but he kept glancing over towards the back corner table.

"It is super busy, but I think I'm keeping on to of it." I said with a smile.

"Well as long as your still smiling and enjoying working here. Tsunade wouldn't be happy with me working you too hard" He said with a laugh.

I gave a smile. Then Jiraya glanced back over to the table in the corner. "Sorry, Jiraya. But is everything ok?" I asked. There was obviously something going on. Why did he keep looking at the table in the back?

"For now. I'm just keeping an eye on the guys at that table in the back. They are known in the area to cause trouble, but they don't usually come here." He said trailing off in thought. "But that's not for you to worry about. You have enough on your plate as it is. Keep up with the good work!" And before I could say anything, he was headed into the office.

I went back to serving the function tables, and before I knew it, it was closing time. I was exhausted! I collected my things from the break room and made my way outside to wait for Ino to pick me up.

As I knew it was going to be busy, I asked Ino to drop me off so that I wouldn't need to waste time hunting down a car park spot. Good thing I did, as when she dropped me off, the car park was full and the side streets were too. Definitely saved myself from potential disaster there.

I walked down the steps to walk through the car park, to wait by the kerb for Ino. As I was walking, I saw something move in the corner of my eye in the darkness near the building. I clutched my bag tightly as I continued to walk through the car park.

'Breathe. It's ok. It's just a... cat or something.' I tried to tell myself.

Then figures emerged out of the darkness. I recognised them immediately. They were the guys that Jiraya had been talking about. The guys that were sitting in the back corner tonight. The guys that had a reputation for causing trouble.

"Hey, aren't you a waitress at Baxter's?" one of them said.

I tried to ignore them and just keep walking. That's when I heard another one of them speak. "Yeah, she is. What's your name, cutie?" They said as I felt him grab my elbow to get me to turn around and answer.

"Just leave me alone!" I exclaimed. This was not what I wanted to deal with after a killer shift at work.

Then I felt someone come up behind me and put his arm around me. I should have moved away, but for some reason I knew that I could trust this person.

"You heard the lady. Time to move on boys." He said. I tensed. I knew exactly who's voice that belonged to. I hesitantly looked up at the person and saw Sasuke's face. I then turned back to the group of guys.

"Sas, you always have all the fun! Can't you just let-" Wait. Did he just call Sasuke 'Sas'? They know each other?

Sasuke's expression darkened as he said "If you don't start moving, you won't like what happens next."

With that, the group slowly turned and headed in the opposite direction. I stood frozen in place, trying to focus on their retreating figures to work out where they were headed. I noticed that they all wore the same black leather jacket. Suddenly, I became very aware of the arm still snaked around my waist, but more importantly, who the arm belonged to.

I jerked forward, causing his arm to fall away from me and rest at his side. For a while, it was silent. We both seemed to be lost in our own thoughts to acknowledge the other.

Surprisingly, it was Sasuke who broke the silence first.

"So, where is your car?" He said casually.

"It's at home" I replied rather reluctantly. I guess I didn't really have a choice, but to try to be polite. I mean he did just save me.

"So you intended on walking home? At this hour? And here I thought you were meant to be the clever one." He said clearly trying to get a reaction out of me.

I clenched my teeth together to stop myself from bursting out with a way to get back at him. But instead, I managed to suppress the urge and simply told him the story how Ino dropped me off, about work, and up till now where Ino is no where to be found. I wonder where she is? Surely she didn't forget.

I was pulled from my thoughts, when I could feel Sasuke staring at me.

"What? Why are you staring at me?" I said in a tone with an underlying message that if he kept going I was going to punch him in the face. OK, I probably wouldn't, but I sure felt like wiping his smug look off his face.

"I asked you if you would like a ride home or somewhere? But if you would much rather walk, that's fine by me. I'm sure those guys would be more than happy to assist you."

I almost didn't hear what he was saying after the question. I was shocked. Was Sasuke actually trying to do something nice? But what's in it for him? Surely he has some sort of ulterior motive. But what other choice did I have? Ino was MIA and after the incident with those guys, I'd rather not risk walking...

"OK, but you need to promise to take me straight home." I said in a shaky voice. Sasuke said nothing, but saluted me as he then fumbled in his pocket for his keys to his black 4WD.

When he unlocked the car, I slid into the front seat next to him. I was nervous; scared more like it. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. I managed to rattle off my address for him to enter into the GPS. I reached up with a shaky hand to grab the seatbelt and buckle myself in as Sasuke started the car.

I was now second guessing myself. Had I made the right choice in letting Sasuke, the guy who I didn't like and knew next to nothing about, drive me home?

I felt the car reverse out of the spot and before I knew it, we were on the main road.

I couldn't back out now. I just hope I get home in one piece.

* * *

 _ **Flash Forward:**_

 _I took in a deep breath. It took me a while to realise that I had been holding my breath. The cold night air was harsh and pained my throat. Though I hardly cared. My thoughts could not be torn away from the sight in front of me. A wash of emotions surged through me, and I wondered if the bliss would last._

 _The snow falling glistened in the moonlight._

 _Everything felt perfect._

 _Everything felt like it was in the right place._

 _If only I knew then, that this small moment would cause an avalanche of destruction._

* * *

 **A/N:**

Thank you to everyone who has come back for yet another chapter.

If you can, please leave a review if you can :)

For next chapter release, please check my profile.

See you all next chapter!

xXpaper-heartsXx


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